


Catnap

by ThoughtsCascade



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Cheetah Virus (Doctor Who), F/M, Humor, Post-Coital, Puns & Word Play, The Master (Doctor Who) is a Cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:48:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26003683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThoughtsCascade/pseuds/ThoughtsCascade
Summary: The Doctor and the Master were in bed together when the Doctor began to notice some... oddities. Naturally, as a scientist, she had to investigate.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40
Collections: Thoschei Prompt Exchange 2020





	Catnap

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fluffysfics](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluffysfics/gifts).



The Doctor stretched, sighing contentedly. That had been _good_. Not to mention something she’d wanted to do for _ages_ … Well, perhaps not _ages_ , but… Well, ages if she discounted the whole of this regeneration and the last bit of her last. She’d spent an unhealthy proportion of her lives wanting to sleep with the Master after the War. ...And before the War… and…

Didn’t matter, because the point was she finally _did it_. Only took… however old he was years, subtract about fifty-something. Maybe thirty-something. Possibly closer to a single decade, if puppy love counted.

Right. Maybe she’d not be sharing that bit with him when she lorded her triumph- and it had been _her_ triumph, given just how much she’d been guiding the situation. And he called himself the Master. She snickered, adjusting her sports bra. 

Wonderful invention, on the part of humans. She couldn’t imagine trying to run in the sort of ridiculous attire Missy wore. _Corsets_. Ugh, no. She might have to ban them. Terrible, terrible things, the Doctor fell short of breath even looking at them. 

Or maybe that had just been Missy. 

Well, neither here nor there. The point was- right! The point was that things had been _good_ , but now that they’d finished she’d quite like a shirt and some pants. Maybe some trousers. Oh, and her sock was half down her foot, that wouldn’t do. The Doctor reached down and pulled it back up, then fixed the other for good measure, grabbing and pulling on her boxer briefs while she was in the area.

Of course, the _Master’s_ socks had somehow stayed in place. Bastard. 

Huh, actually on that subject, he was being… quiet. Surely he didn’t fall asleep? She stared at him, quest of looking for her shirt abandoned even before she’d started. Except… “Is that my shirt?” 

His face was buried in it, and he was running one hand over it then the other in a repetitive motion. One or the other, she thinks she could maybe understand, if it were something nicer than a plain cotton shirt. It’s hardly soft enough to warrant that, even if it is likely the softest thing either of them wears, these days. 

He didn’t respond to her, so she flopped down onto the pillow next to him, pulling up the blankets. He’d also managed to get his underwear on too, while she wasn’t paying attention. Pity. Then, she’d spent a while… ah, zoned out, for lack of a better word, after their… activities.

Hell of a time to be getting modest about it, but soon her thoughts stopped short, a grin of delight creeping across her face. “Are you _purring_?”

He looked up and glared at her, hissing- oh, actually, his teeth looked sharper than hers, this go. That was just plain unfair. 

She took advantage of his face no longer being on her shirt to try and snatch it up, only for him to flop back down, and now his chin was covering her hand too. Brilliant. She sighed, wondering if it was worth trying to move away.

This behaviour was definitely… odd, but she’d seen weirder- oh! _Oh!_

“You’re a cat, aren’t you?” There was triumph in her voice, she couldn’t help it. She _loved_ solving problems. Well, this wasn’t a problem, necessarily. Mysteries. She loved solving _mysteries_. Yeah, that seemed a better word. She didn’t quite know _why_ it was, but she had a decent guess as to the _what_ , now.

The look the Master gave her in return... Yeah, that was definitely a cat look, full of disdain that it was. “Cheetah virus?”

He didn’t deign to respond, instead going back to _kneading at her shirt_ , honestly.

Well, she supposed it was good he was satisfied...? The purring was kind of nice to listen to as well… Kind of meaning _very_ , really, she couldn’t help it.

Unfortunately, it seemed she definitely wasn’t capable of purring herself. He’d glanced up in alarm as soon as she tried, though the look quickly shifted to something in the general neighbourhood of annoyance, or maybe haughtiness? Regardless, she took advantage of that to steal her hand back, since it seemed unlikely she’d get her shirt anytime soon. Well, she could always steal his. Too many buttons for her to want to wear regularly, but it would do for the time being.

After she’d finished figuring out as much as she could about this, at any rate. She was a _scientist_ , damn it!

Huh, she should start using that line, that’d be funny… had the Master ever seen Star Trek? Must have done, right? With how often he’d been on Earth?

Wait, cat. She’d ask about Star Trek later. The cat thing was now, he didn’t exactly seem to be talking, Star Trek probably wouldn’t get a proper answer-

“Hey! Stop biting my shirt, c’mon Koschei, bite something else,” she complained as she finally tuned back into what he was doing, now doing her best to get her hand between his mouth and the shirt. 

This, of course, had the side effect of him chewing on her fingers instead. _Gently_ , admittedly, more gently than he had been earlier when he’d seemed to be doing his best to make her whole neck one giant bruise, but _still_.

She _did_ really like that shirt… probably worth it, at the moment. Her TARDIS might not agree to make another, the Doctor had gotten the sense that she was somewhat _peeved_ earlier. And it wasn’t as if her nails weren’t already messed up from her own habit of biting them, and the chewing wasn’t really hurting. More akin to a baby teething than anything.

...She was definitely _not_ going to say that thought to him. Probably. Unless he really annoyed her. Or made fun of how long she’d been not-talking after, or during, though he wouldn’t exactly be able to cast stones in that regard- at least for the latter. 

So she allowed him to nibble her fingers, then grinned mischievously and began to pet his hair with her free hand, laughing delightedly as he nuzzled into it just like a real cat, moving closer to her until he was practically in her lap. She sat up, and then he was in her lap.

She began to scratch instead of just pet, and now the purring was unmistakable. Oh, she was definitely going to have to experiment with this more. 

She methodically began scratching and trying to find the _best_ spots, the ones that got him purring the loudest… for science, of course. Because she was a scientist. Not because she found this endearing, of course not. 

The best spots seemed to be on the top of his head, roughly aligned with his ears… which, she was fairly certain, was right behind where his ears would be if he was a cheetah. She found herself unsurprised. The second-best spot seemed to be behind his _actual_ ears, with third best going to his hairline, right where it met smooth skin. 

It was definitely important data for the future. The Master looked near _blissful_ , and if she was being honest with herself that was enough to incentivize the Doctor to keep doing it. 

Why it was important data… well, she could admit to herself that it was because she looked forward to physical contact from him, generally. She actually _liked_ touching him, and he was the first person that had been true for, this regeneration. She was going to hoard whatever knowledge she could get to convince him they should touch _more_ that didn’t require she outright ask for it. Especially given he seemed to take her deliberately bumping into him as an insult, for some bizarre reason. 

It was weirdly hard to focus on anything but the purring, honestly, and the Doctor might have suspected hypnosis if there weren’t so many reasons that it couldn’t be. The Master’s eyes were closed, he looked absolutely _shameless_ , and honestly, she’d always had trouble removing her attention from him for long, if she knew he was around. Given those things were true, however, it seemed that hypnosis obviously wasn’t the issue.

She blinked slowly, letting her thoughts drift away. It was a distinctly odd sensation, the Doctor could hardly remember the last time her thoughts had gotten so pleasantly slow. She didn’t think she’d like for them to be like that all the time, but it was a surprisingly decent break.

The Doctor wasn’t sure how long they sat there, with him purring and her mind a pleasant haze, but eventually he’d begun to pull away. She blinked slowly, wiping her chewed-on fingers on the sheets and removing her hand from his hair. “You all done being a cat now?”

“Shut up,” he responded.

She kicked him lightly, stealing her shirt back, this time not getting any verbal protests- though the Master did give it a mournful look. Or maybe that was from the kick. “You didn’t want me to shut up a while back, when I was telling you to-”

“You are _insufferable_ ,” he complained, but he’d started smirking the moment she’d spoken.

“And you’re a cat, apparently. That always happen after sex?”

“ _No_ ,” he said, in a way the Doctor was fairly certain meant yes. Or, at least that it hadn’t been a one-off. “I think I liked it better when you were being quiet.”

Of course, the Doctor absolutely had to take the opportunity to tease. “Well, you can try to get me to that point again, if you don’t think you’ll become a cat after. I mean, you’re welcome to, it was no bother to me, but it’d prove your lie in record time. Up to you if that’s worth it.”

The way the Master had stirred at the beginning of that sentence and then settled down again was very telling.

She grinned, reaching out to scratch behind his ears again and was rewarded with him leaning into it- for about five seconds until he hissed and pulled back, at any rate. 

The Doctor didn’t give up that easily, trying once again- this time in the spot she’d determined was _best._ “Does it only happen after sex?”

Either the Master didn’t bother trying to answer, or his first attempt came out as a purr. Knowing him it could go either way, but she was sure if it was the latter it would be a denial. This time he didn’t pull back, but did, after fifteen or so seconds of practically head-butting her hand in what she assumed was an attempt to get more- an attempt she gladly rewarded by indulging it- he opened his mouth to speak again.

“Remember, if I think you’re lying I’ll probably test it to see for myself!”

He shut his mouth again with a noise she really couldn’t describe- somewhere between a hiss and a purr, and she wasn’t sure she ever remembered hearing a sound like it in her life.

Then, she didn’t spend much time with cats.

After a few more minutes the Master pulled away, opening his eyes- and that was a bit adorable too, how his eyes seemed to have shut almost automatically. Another point she probably wasn’t going to bring up to him just yet, or quite possibly ever. 

“Sometimes,” he finally muttered malcontentedly, turning to bury his face in his pillow then seeming to think the better of presenting his head as quite such an easy target and turning to face her once more.

The Doctor mulled this over. “Hm. It’s not just after sex, is it? Not based on your reactions… I said cheetah virus, but you weren’t doing it your past two gos, were you?”

Once more he didn’t answer her, so she was left moving her face _veeerrryyy_ close to his in hopes of picking up an answer in his eyes.

What she got was pushed away. “Rude!” She pouted at him. Though she’d never admit to having thought of it as a pout later.

“I’m on the _edge of the bed_ , love. And my rope, for that matter.”

Silently the Doctor reached down under the bed, moving back to her own side in the process, and held out a length of rope. 

The Master stared at it for a few seconds before he began _cackling_ and the Doctor couldn’t help her delighted beam in response. 

“Doctor, my dear, that was _terrible,_ ” he insisted a few minutes later, still catching his breath. He clapped a few times. “Bravo.”

“Thought it was usually ‘my dear Doctor’,” she teased.

“I can stop calling you dear to me at all and just refer to you as bastard instead, given that we both know that’s what you are anyway. If you’re going to be picky.” It was said so mildly that it took her a few seconds to register the insult. 

“You can’t take a joke,” she grumbled, ignoring the fact that not taking a joke was almost certainly exactly what she was doing. She also ignored his pointed look, while she was already ignoring things. 

“Plenty of things I _can_ take,” he retorted, practically leering. 

Thankfully that reminded the Doctor of her task. “I think I was trying to get you to tell me if you were a cat in your last few regenerations too.”

“Sometimes.” His tone very much indicated he’d like her to not pursue this line of questioning.

Despite his tone, the rest of him was still relaxed enough that the Doctor was certain it was at least partially for show. She was an expert in such things, after all. 

“I didn’t see it when you were Missy. Or Saxon, for that matter. Or- well, ever, except when you were actively infected with the virus, but that was different.”

“I had control of when I saw you in every regeneration barring Missy.”

He was silent for a few seconds, so the Doctor took that as a sign that he needed some prodding. “And Missy?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Luck of timing, lack of it happening much in the middle years- it was more frequent in the beginning and end- and you being oblivious and not realizing I was, once or twice.”

“Not true, I’d have noticed. Why wouldn’t I?”

The Master stared at her for a few seconds, blinking slowly. “You had all your rules about _fraternization_ with me given that I was a prisoner, so I wasn’t exactly going to jump all over you even when I was, generally- I think you’d have died, and Missy had more dignity than that. There were some times you did come in, accident of timing. You didn’t actually realize I wasn’t talking.” 

“I’d have noticed!” The Doctor insisted.

The Master raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t talk that much!”

He shook his head slightly, as if to disagree.

“Come on, I know you think I’m self absorbed, probably especially thought it then, and I know I can definitely ramble, but when I visited you it was usually for decent stretches of time! You can’t say I wouldn’t notice you not talking for _hours_.”

She followed the Master’s gaze to an abandoned pile of cards.

“Okay, yeah, we did other things during, but you can’t tell me you’d play games as a _cat_.”

He tapped a book on the bedside table, fingers drumming against it as he gave her a small smirk. 

“Okay, sure, sometimes we did more passive thi- hey, were you a cat when we watched Frozen? You just said you didn’t generally do the contact thing with me, but you were practically draped over me then. _And_ you didn’t even hum the songs like that you usually did for music things!”

He gave a self-satisfied nod.

“Fine, okay, maybe I wouldn’t have always noticed it. But I’d definitely have noticed all the not-talking when we weren’t doing something passive, you never really went _quiet_ on me. Talking less, sure, but that’s different answer both know it.”

He gave her a pointed look.

“What?”

He continued staring. 

“ _What?_ I can’t know what you’re thinking if you don’t sa- _Ohhhh_ , you bastard.”

He gave her an innocent look.

“Nope, not falling for that again right in a row like that, come on, talk.”

“If it makes you feel any better, it wasn’t just you. It worked on the comic relief-”

“ _Nardole._ ”

“That’s what I was saying, it worked on him too. Works on most people, if you know how.” He grinned. “Good for when you feel like being quiet.”

She wondered vaguely if he could teach her, but decided now probably wasn’t the time to ask. Later. “Okay, so… sometimes you’re a cat.”

“If you _must_ put it that way.”

“I must. And there’s something else I _must_ do too.”

“What’s that?”

She held up the rope with a grin, and found her expression mirrored as comprehension dawned in the Master’s eyes. “Keep talking…”

**Author's Note:**

> All Time Lords are cats, but especially the Master.


End file.
